Been a while, sorry its taken me this long to update, Maybe Ill get more inspiration in the coming days. Here's hoping.
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Attempting to shield herself as the carriage splashed water on her
from the muddy street, Mary looked at the newly ruined newspaper in
her grasp, mud spackled on the back.
"Great, that's all I need, a ruined pape," she said, shaking it off
and looking solemnly back at the carriage.
"It ain't ruined," Beauti replied, before calling out another
headline. As she nodded to Stretch and Sage, Stretch took the
spotted paper, folded it so potential customers could only see the
clean side, and shouted headlines.
"Won't whoever she's giving that know it's ruined?" Mary questioned,
leaning towards Sage and Beauti cautiously, not wanting anyone to
hear her.
"Yeah, but we won't be here," Sage said.
"What do you-," Mary started, but just then Stretch had accepted
payment for the marred newspaper, and began to quickly walk towards
the others…until the man had realized he had paid for flawed
merchandise.
"Hey!" he yelled, the four girls taking that as their cue to book
it.
"Samson's!" Beauti screamed, Mary simply following the other three,
praying they knew what they were doing. As they turned corners, ran
down an alley, and slipped into the door of a shabby looking general
store, Mary barely took the time to notice what had happened, or
even where she was.
"In trouble again?" came an elderly man's voice, causing Mary to
almost have a heart attack.
"Yeah, just some man outside. Nothin' we can't handle," Sage said,
as she began looking around the small shop.
"Oh, Mary, this is Mr. Samson, a friend of ours," Stretch introduced
the two, allowing them a brief polite gesture of welcoming before
they began conversation once more.
"And if by `friend' they mean someone who gets them out of trouble
when they need it, then yes, I guess I am," the man said, his eyes
showing nothing but kindness and welcoming as the girls looked
around.
"This is why we sell in Soho…or one of the reasons," Beauti
whispered to Mary, motioning towards the elderly man, who was now
glancing outside.
"The friendly, neighborhood shopkeeper?" Mary asked.
"No," Stretch started, trying hard not to laugh too hard at Mary's
comment, "people we know, places we are used to. Ya kinda need
somethin' like that if you're gonna be a newsie. Ya need people that
can watch out for ya, otherwise ya ain't got nothing'."
Mary kept playing that thought over and over in her head, through
lunch, during which she was too nauseas to eat anything, and on
through the afternoon. Its not like she had to think about the
headlines much, seeing as the afternoon edition had provided them
with a nice murder article, so they could rest easy…until tomorrow
that is.
As the suggestive gestures from business men subsided, the girls
took their leave, some heading straight for the lodging house,
others heading back to the Distribution Center to sell back the
unsold copies. As the girls regrouped along the way back to the
lodging house, trudging, and sometimes hitching a ride for a few
miles, from their respected spots to their living quarters on Gold
Street.
Entering, boards creaking, wind occasionally blowing through cracks
in the walls and windows, Mary looked around, trying to have an
accepting eye and open mind.
"Home sweet home," Sage said, signing in, passing by Mrs. Donovan,
climbing the stairs, and kicking the bunkroom door open.
"Jaysus Sage, give me a heart attack would ya?" Gambler yelled,
throwing a dirty sock towards the tall newsgirl, her Irish accent
flaring.
"Thought I'd do ya a favor by puttin' ya outta your misery," Sage
snapped back, sitting on her own bunk, lighting a cheap cigar from
the nearby general store.
"There should be a open bunk somewhere…ya just gotta find it,"
Beauti whipered to Mary, pointing to some that proved to be viable
options.
"What do you do for supper around here?" Mary asked, trying to be
polite, her innocence grasping tightly for fear of being lost
forever at the sight of such corruption.
"Do ya have any money?" Firefly said curtly, her blue eyes focused
on the new lodger.
"Um, yes, a little," she said.
"Then go out and get some damn food. Simple as that. It ain't brain
work, kid," Jade, another newsgirl randomly spoke.
Mary shied away, looking to put anything she may be carrying beside
a bunk to claim it as her own.
"Look, kid, it ain't hard ta figure out how ta live around here, ya
just gotta, ya know, get used ta it," Petite said, smiling weakly
before going about her business.
"And ya never get used to it," Firefly chimed in, searching through
her belongings for something to do.
"Don't listen ta her, bad sellin' day," Snaps whispered, before
sitting down on the bunk beside Mary. "Names, Snaps, or Roxanne, but
most people call me Snaps. You?"
"Mary, pleasure to meet you."
"I can assure you it's no pleasure at all. Just wait until I live up
ta my name and start snappin' my knuckles. You'll right hate me
then," Snaps joked.
The new girl eased slightly, relieved to met at least one other
person who didn't seem hostile, ready to attack at the very sight of
her. "What do you all do to pass the time around here?"
"I dunno, though Im pretty sure ya have a good idea of what we might
do. Innocent-like kids like you seem ta think all sorts of things
about our type."
"Um…smoke, drink, gamble…"
"Pick fights…," Firefly interrupted
"Go to opium dens…," Jade added
The girls around them started chiming in, jokingly putting in their
two cent's worth into the private conversation.
"Ah, shut up and mind ya own business," Snaps snapped back before
turning towards Mary once more. "There are some of us that gamble,
but that's just a hobby, just like any other. It ain't like all we
do is sit around with a deck of cards. Kids that go ta school like
ta say things like that, though. Kids like ta spread their stories
about what they heard someone say to someone else about how we live.
If we're caught smoking' in here its clean-up duty for a week, but
no one takes that one seriously. Same thing for drinkin', but we
take that one a little more ta heart, seein' as it's more of a pet
peeve ta Mrs. Donovan and she catches ya she'll back hand ya. Long
story, and I ain't one for telling' stories."
"So, what do you do?"
"What did ya do at home? Whatever ya did at home ya are free ta do
here, simple as that. Ya might pick up a few hobbies….I like gin
rummy, but nothing too harmful."
As more girls filed in, collapsing on nearby bunks, some stopping to
say hello while others simply passed by, Mary watched them, spying
their habits, yet quickly looking away before anyone caught on to
what she was doing.
A pattern started to develop, groups forming, pairs teaming up. The
second someone entered, she was greeted by one or two from her own
little troop. It was as if everyone was assigned a place to go, or
people to be with. However, Mary didn't know all that much about it,
and shrugged it off as coincidence, or just pure habit, before
looking for something small to eat that would hold her for the
night.
The sun began to set, purple hues started to blanket the city.
Slowly, the only lights to be seen where the street lamps below and
the distant glow of the moon and stars. Exhausted from the days
work, many of the lodgers had retired early, heavy breathing could
be heard from all sides of the room. Spying Mary, hoping to say a
few words of, well, enlightenment perhaps, Ebony sauntered over to
the newly occupied bunk to introduce herself.
"Names Ebony, give ya three guesses why," she began, Mary eyes
immediately landing on her jet black hair. Smiling, Ebony simply
went on, "How was you're first day. Hope it wasn't too much for ya.
It can be a bit hard, `specially if you're new."
"It was alright," Mary shrugged. Trying to prevent herself from
complaining. She knew this girl wanted nothing to do with her
problems, she had her own to deal with.
"Liar," Ebony teased. "Its alright, the first day is always, well,
tough. Come ta think of it, they all are. But you get used to it.
Everyone does."
"Not everyone," Vigor shouted, passing by from the bathroom.
"Don't listen. Ya made it ta the lodging house. Most of the people
that don't last never even make it this far. So, don't listen ta
them. They won't be happy until you either leave or last a week.
They gotta be like this. Can't get attached to a person that's just
gonna leave ya, right?" Ebony said, looking around at her lodging
mates, several of them playing a game of go fish or gin rummy, those
who could were reading, and others were simply preparing for an
early night. The distant sobs of a smaller newsgirl could be heard
from across the room, whispers of comfort from those near here doing
little. "Petite most likely. Hasn't been her day."
"Does she always cry?" Mary asked, looking over to see if she could
spot the small child.
"No, not always. But someone always does. Like sellin', ya get used
to it. After a while ya don't notice it much unless it's right
beside ya. Look, it does get better, Ya just gotta stick around that
long ta find out, that's all. After a while, you'll find a group ta
sell with permanent. Even if ya sell alone, ya want someone ta be
near ya, watch your back. See there? Sage and Hope, practically
sisters. Stretch and Beauti are sisters. They don't look a damn
thing alike, but don't bring that up. Gip there and Firecracker, we
call her FC, well, they'se known each other for years. See? Everyone
has someone. Ya have to. Ya don't, ya got nothing. Ya see, the girls
here that ain't got no family, well, they trade their loyalties-
like. Ya know? Friends become family. That sort of thing. Its all
part of bein' a newsie. Loyalty is everything. Stickin' tagether is
life and death sometimes. Remember that," Ebony said, before saying
goodnight and getting ready for bed herself.
Leaning back, the cold wood of the headboard pushing into her back,
Mary thought about what Ebony, and earlier Stretch, had said. They
seemed obsessed with loyalty and bond, but when its all you have, I
guess you have a right to be. Turning over, closing her eyes, Mary
fell asleep to the sounds of Petites distant sobs, as Scorch shouted
rummy.
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Hope you liked it, and if you didn't then oh well. Maybe when I decide to update Ill impress you then? No? Oh well, bugger off.
Stretch